


Lucky Number Sixteen

by Verthril



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-01-13 17:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1234543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verthril/pseuds/Verthril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint's day started playing tour guide to a school trip visiting from Upstate New York, but somehow after getting locked in a closet it ended with a date.  Now if he can just survive his friends and teammates meddling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Marvel owns the Avengers and the X-men.

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"Just give them a tour he said, it'll be fun he said, you're good with kids he said." Clint grumbled, remembering the conversation with Tony that was the entire reason for this whole nightmare.

Throwing his weight against the door again, it barely budged and after three more attempts he gave up. He just had to be sure because he had heard -It-, every single one of the Avengers knew the noise -It- made. -It- had caused so much trouble since they had assembled that he considered -It- an honorary member. Just how was he supposed to explain that to the poor hapless Teachers Aid he was locked in a closet with.

Of course the reason for being trapped in said closet was a whole other story entirely. One of the kids had been sick, barfed, upchucked, and the TA just couldn't take no for an answer that Tony had more than enough janitors to clean up the mess. Between the kid crying and just how embarrassed she was over it all he had gone to show here just where the closet was. That was about the time the Hulk alarm went off followed by the stampede that had crushed them into a supply closet.

_It's probably just a false alarm._ He had said then as soothingly as he could, but his day just wanted to remind him who was in charge with four little words...

_Hulk Smash Puny God!_

So apparently it was no false alarm and the Big Guy was mad at Thor, which was usually fine and dandy. Usually that just meant stay out of their way and let them work it out. Except today they were hosting a school from Upstate New York, a little PR for them and Stark Industries alike. Except that this time he was stuck in a closet with a TA from the aforementioned school and that -It- was outside the door. And of course because -It- was still out the door after five minutes of trying to get out meant Thor was probably unconscious which usually took a night of heavy _revelling_ for the Asgardian, or...the Big Guy.

"What did you say it was?" The TA asked, trying her own luck against the door.

"Mjolnir." Clint said, sighing wearily.

"Thor's Hammer?"

She knew her mythology, but then again she worked at a school so they were probably teaching it in class. Trying the light again giving a tug on the chain, the bulb stubbornly stayed dead as if just to exasperate the matter.

"So it's heavy or something?" She asked, slamming her shoulder against the door one last time.

"He explained it one time, actually a lot of times but you tend to learn to turn him out when he gets going about some stuff. His dad..."

"Odin?" She asked.

"...Odin cursed it or something so only he...Thor...could pick it up." Clint finished.

"So we're stuck until he comes to get it? That shouldn't be too long right?" She asked, pretty much summarizing their situation.

"That's if he doesn't forget about it." Clint muttered.

"How can he forget his hammer?"

For the first time in as many minutes as they had been in the dark he was glad for it because he probably wouldn't have inspired a lot of confidence in her scowling at the ceiling as he was. To date he could remember fifteen times -It- had been forgotten in just a way to ruin his day. It wasn't really like Thor had to worry about the thing, it wasn't like anyone could just walk off with it and it came back to him like a puppy every time he called it.

"I'm guessing by your silence you're counting just how many times he's forgotten it, great...and I just had to go for broke with a Trenta at the Starbucks down in the lobby."

"What's your name again?" Clint asked, feeling he might as well get to know her better if they were going to be stuck in a closet until Thor woke up.

"Jubilee, and you're Hawkeye." Jubilee said in introduction.

"Clint, Hawkeye is my working name." Working name and a way to impress the kids as of late it seemed, just like he'd been doing with some trick shooting for their enjoyment all until one barfed.

"So, any chance we could send an SoS and get them to take the door off the hinges?" Jubilee asked, her phone lighting her face up in the dark.

"Yeah...uh, last time something like this happened they had to torch the door. Tony's got a hard on for quality with this place." Clint admitted, that was somewhere around time six he not so fondly remembered Thor forgetting his hammer somewhere.

"Uh...I kinda remember seeing a lot of flammable warnings on the stuff we got in here with us, I guess Tony doesn't mess around when it comes to cleaning either?" Jubilee remarked, tapping away at her phone and sending off her cry for help.

"Yeah, I think that nixes torching the door." Clint admitted.

"So...what makes Thor remember to come pick up his hammer?" Jubilee asked.

"Normally around the time he needs to Smite something." Or fly somewhere, actually not so much fly as just fall with style, it was Tony that pointed that one out being the only one out of them that could actually fly.

"You know what's really funny, I'm not even supposed to be here today. Kitty came down with a bug and I'm guessing I know who gave it to her." Jubilee laughed bitterly.

"At least you don't smell like shoe polish." Clint added.

"No, but I almost smelt like...hey, funny guy, I see what you did there." Jubilee said with a laugh as she caught on.

"Clint?"

Looking to another in the dim light of the cell and then to the door, he saw he wasn't alone in looking relieved, then he remembered the Trenta and figured that might be a poor choice of words.

"Cap? Am I glad to hear you." Clint called.

"Is Miss Lee with you?" Steve asked.

Seeing a nod from his closet companion, he tried not to wonder just who would name their kid Jubilee Lee.

"Present!" Jubilee called as if someone had taken roll call.

"Okay, we're going to need you two to back up as much as you can. We're going to have to cut the hinges off." Steve called.

"Oh no you're not!" Clint yelled in time with Jubilee.

"We're not using a torch this time Clint...the janitorial staff informed us of the supplies kept in this closet. We're...using a different way." Steve said, doing a horrible job at sounding reassuring.

"Okay, I'll bite...how?" Clint asked.

_Snickt._

"Woo shit, woo shit, back up, back up, back up..." Jubilee stammered, forcing herself as far from the door as the cramped quarters would let her.

Not knowing just what that noise meant but recognizing when someone knew just what trouble and danger a certain noise brought to the table, he did his best to join her. Hearing the sound of metal on metal, or metal cutting through metal if the sparks were any indication, whoever was responsible for _Snickt_ didn't believe in shouting warnings. Three seconds later he along with Miss Jubilee Lee found one another staring at Steve heaving the door off with a guy that had Phys Ed teacher written all over his mug.

"So just how heavy is this thing anyways?" Phys Ed asked, bending down to his luck at -It-.

Sharing a look with Steve, he watched the man get a good firm grip on it and try and lift it. Looking between them and back to the hammer Phys Ed put some more effort into it until veins started to bulge on his arms with the exertion. Hearing giggling and a bit of laughter beside him, Clint looked to see Jubilee chuckling away already let in on the secret.

"Ya weren't kiddin', damn thing's hea..." Phys Ed started to say, cut off as he was pulled into the air as Mjolnir flew down the hall.

"Holy shit!" Jubilee yelped.

"Guess that means Thor's up and he's in a Smiting mood." Clint added, peeking out of the closet to stare down the hall where Phys Ed laid in a crumpled heap of swearing.

"So, uh...little girls room?" Jubilee asked.

Then for the second time that day the Hulk Alarm went off, right around the moment they saw Phys Ed flying down the hall. With another thunderous crack Thor followed.

"You know what, there's a great Shawarma place just around the corner. I don't know about you but I could use a bite." Clint offered.

"I could eat." Jubilee pipped in, both turning a quick about face and walking briskly to the elevator to share another look.

"Stairs?" Clint asked.

"Stairs." Jubilee agreed.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-


	2. Chapter 2

Marvel owns the Avengers and the X-men.

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"You know, I always thought when I heard you guys did Shawarma after saving New York that someone was just pulling my leg." Jubilee said, enjoying another bite of hers.

"Actually I think we saved the world, and it was Tony's idea. When a guy flies a nuke into some portal, in my books that lets him choose where to go for lunch." Clint said, slurping some of his soda.

"Alright, hole in the sky, Aliens Take Manhattan bombs on Broadway, and my girl's favourite geek crush running around just kicking ass. Yeah, I'll give ya that." Jubilee fired back, counting the points off with a fry.

"Tony?" Clint asked.

"God no, too smug. Big guy, green, actually looks good in purple?" Jubilee asked with a grin.

"I wear purple." Clint said and wondering if he should have admitted that for how she was looking at him now.

"You shouldn't." Jubilee said full of condemnation for a fashion faux pas as she saw it.

"Actually it's more of an accent, mostly black...with some purple." Clint tried only to get her shaking her head sternly at him against the idea.

"Okay, I just gotta ask. Why the bow?" Jubilee asked now.

"There's only so much you can do with a gun." Clint offered.

"Yeah, yeah, we all saw you rocking your Legolas for the kids but c'mon, which was it...Rambo or Robin Hood?" Jubilee asked with a grin.

Throwing a look to the rest of the patrons that seemed pretty oblivious to them, wearing his civvies he had to admit he really didn't stand out too much. Leaning in and gesturing for her to do the same, he fought against the smirk as he came to admit it.

"Both." Clint whispered, leaning back and enjoying his meal once more.

"Hah! Knew it! Rogue and Kitty each owe me twenty bucks." Jubilee giggled, digging out her phone to send a text.

"How's that?" Clint asked.

"Betting pool, started the moment we heard about this field trip for the kids that you'd be leading." Jubilee mumbled as she typed away.

"Alright, well, you gonna fill me in?" Clint asked with a chuckle.

"Uh well, Kitty just got outta a bad relationship. She was like, following after the Prof and doing the whole Oxford scene. Still can't believe I'm gonna be calling her Professor Pryde but whatever, anyway...long story short Kitty didn't enjoy acting out the _Spy Who Shagged Me_ only to get dumped. What was I saying again anyway? Oh yeah, so she was all putting her cash on phallic symbol." Jubilee rambled, still texting away and giggling as a reply came in.

"And Rogue?" Clint asked now curious in the answer.

"She put her money on Legolas." Jubilee answered with a chuckle.

"Enough about me, why don't you tell me something about yourself?" Clint asked now, trying to turn the conversation away from himself.

"Alright, well, like it'd read on the inside cover of my autobiography if I ever wrote one...born in Beverly Hills, So Cal Represent. Parents killed in a car accident so then every Aunt and Uncle I never knew back in China start fighting over me, read the estate, because the folks made big with the American Dream. Got sick of it, ran, and the Hair Club for Men said it best...I'm also a client. Graduating class of what the media called the Year of the Iron Man at Xavier's School for Gifted Children." Jubilee said, looking up from her texting as she reached the end of her story.

"You don't pull your punches do you?" Clint said completely impressed.

"Fight to win Baby. My turn, what was it like, you know...saving the world?" Jubilee answered after her last bite of shawarma.

"Personal." The answer came and it was the only one he had.

He had done just what Natasha had asked him not to and looked to all the men and women who had been killed by him as he danced to the song Loki played like some psychopathic pied piper. Grabbing for his drink to find it empty, Shawarma wasn't a place for these thoughts.

"Feel like getting a drink?" Clint asked.

"You buying?" Jubilee replied looking interested.

"I think hearing you call Tony smug buys you that. Come on, I know a place." Clint said, tossing some cash down for lunch.

-=+=–=+=–=+=-

"I'm guessing if you know your Norse mythology you know about Loki right?" Clint asked, staring into his drink mulling over his thoughts.

"Yeah didn't actually get that far with the reading, just enough to grade some tests." Jubilee replied.

"Well, Loki is Thor's brother. He's also the son of a bitch that put a whole mess of something bad in my head and made me fight my own people." Clint said, gritting his teeth after pounding back his drink.

"I'm sorry." Jubilee whispered, feeling his mood turn dark.

"Tasha's always going on about red in her ledger, wanting to wipe it out. Because of Loki I know how she feels." Clint sighed, waving for another drink.

"Fight the good fight, just how your people would want ya to right? So you can look 'em in the eye when your ticket gets punched?" Jubilee asked, his answer a nod as he waited for his drink.

"Exactly." Clint confessed.

"How did you get your head on straight by game time?" Jubilee questioned, her voice quiet but curious.

"Cognitive Recalibration." Clint answered with a smile at the thought.

"Huh?" Jubilee asked, slugging back a sip of her beer.

"Got hit in the head, really hard." Clint admitted.

"Sounds painful." Jubilee said with a grimace.

"Yeah, Tasha doesn't pull her punches either."

Seeing something in her eyes he had to wonder at, he let a silence fall between them as they enjoyed their drinks. Ignoring a call on his phone from Tony, if it was really important the man knew how to force him to take the call. There had been a few episodes when he'd been getting some bunk time only for his phone to answer itself and switch to speaker that had taught him that.

"So, guessing Tasha is the lucky lady then." Jubilee mused.

"Wait, you think me and Tasha are...?" Clint asked as he nearly choked on his drink.

"Dating? Jury's still out but there's something going on there. Trust me, had enough dates where dudes started talking about the ex or the one that got away to know pining when I see it." Jubilee said as matter of fact as she could.

"Trust me, there's no pining. We're just, we know in a fight we got each other's back. That and the brake up would be bad, really, really bad." Clint swore, having another sip of drink then.

"You say that like you got some experience with bad break ups." Jubilee pointed out with a chuckle.

"Yeah, a few. Learned my lesson about office place romances the hard way, too much munitions laying around." Clint said, shaking his head thinking of one particular bad one.

"Oh come on, you can't just tease me like that. Dish." Jubilee laughed, leaning against the bar and smiling at him.

"Classified." Clint said with a smirk that stayed.

"But I need to know!" Jubilee protested.

"Sorry, don't got the security clearance." Clint replied, smiling now.

"Well, at least you're honest about it. The Brits play dirty from what I hear, accent, model good looks, and just the kinda bad boy she always falls for. Well, except Pete, but fell into the Friend Zone." Jubilee smirked back, appreciating his honesty.

Turning on her stool and leaning against the bar, she looked out at the empty tables that were starting to fill with three piece suits and all the movers and shakers that made her feel underdressed. Hearing his phone ring again, Clint looked to see it was Tony and figured he might as well pick up.

"Boss calling?" Jubilee asked with a look to the phone.

"He's not my boss." Clint said in an aside.

"Way I heard it he's bankrolling you guys." Jubilee fired back.

"That still doesn't make him my boss." Clint replied.

"Paycheck and no boss, where can I get an application?" Jubilee questioned now, swinging her feet around to lean with her chest to the bar.

"Classified." Clint said with another smirk at seeing her roll her eyes.

"Fine. Next question. Know anyplace good for dinner? So far you've been two for two, c'mon, show me what ya got!" Jubilee asked, turning a beaming smile on him.

"Are you asking me out?" Clint asked and not hiding his surprise.

"What time should I pick you up?"

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-


	3. Chapter 3

Marvel owns the X-men and the Avengers, no profit is to be made from this work.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Since when do you shop?"

Walking out of the elevator with shopping bags in hand, Clint looked to see Tony walking up the from behind munching on some blueberries. The kids were gone and already building maintenance was getting to fixing that door Phys Ed had cut off the hinges.

"I have a date." Clint said, hoping that would be enough to let him just get to his room and get ready.

"Okay, better question. Since when do you date?" Tony asked, jogging to catch up.

"I date." Clint said as he turned a corner to see Thor walking down the hall with -It-.

"No you don't." Tony said, stuffing his bag of blueberries under his arm and tapping at his phone.

"How do you know I don't date?" Clint asked, side stepping getting run over by an Asgardian who was dressed in his civvies and looking like he was off for a drink.

"Because you're the guy Fury has watch stuff. Thor's hammer, the Tesseract..sorry, and...," Tony said as he scrolled through a liste on his phone, "...what's a TARDIS?"

"Where did you get that?" Clint asked as he turned on Tony.

"Sometime after Galaga, Phase Two and knowing every dirty little secret SHIELD has. Jarvis made me a file, I thought it only fair since they had one on me. So just what is a TARDIS?" Tony asked.

"I date, and I have one. Tonight." Clint said, turning his back to the genius playboy billionaire philanthropist or so his resume read.

"Who?" Tony asked with a skip to his step as he caught up.

"No one you'd know." Clint replied, weary of this game and looking forward to having a shower and a shave.

"Is it that TA you left with? What was her name? Jarvis, what was her name?" Tony asked.

"Miss Jubilation Lee, Sir." Jarvis supplied.

Once again Tony was on his phone looking as though he was checking out whatever Jarvis supplied, but almost immediately his smile fell and his expression became serious. That was enough to have Clint turn around having caught sight of it in a reflection, old habits died hard and he wasn't in the habit of letting anyone stay in a blind spot.

"Clint, better question, did you know SHIELD has a file on her?" Tony asked with his face now grim.

"What do you mean SHIELD has a file on her?" Clint asked, stalking up to look at the phone.

"And not just her..." Tony said, scrolling through a list that spaned the entirety of the Xavier School for Gifted Children past and present.

"I need to talk to Fury." Clint said finding himself with an echo in Tony.

"First! Dibs!" Tony cried, stalking off himself and talking to Jarvis the entire way.

"What are you doing?"

Turning to see Natasha standing there dressed in her role as Natalie Rushman, Pepper was with her and that was enough to have him reign in his rising irritation. Looking down to his bags, he'd done a little light shopping hoping to ask one of them which would have been better, casual or dress to impress.

"I need to talk to you." Clint said pointing to Natasha.

"Then make an appointment, I'm accompanying Miss Potts on a business meeting." Natasha said already acting the part.

"What kind of meeting is so important that you need to go?" Clint asked, letting go of a breath and trying to calm himself as he realized he was yelling.

"The kind that might turn dangerous and may require my...expertise." Natasha said calm and cool.

Looking from Natasha to Pepper, he had to admit that with Tony being publicly known as the Iron Man and now working among outed heros, or as most of the public branded them, that Pepper's duties had known a higher degree of danger than even.

"Okay, I have a date tonight. Dressy or casual?" Clint asked, holding up his shopping for their inspection.

"Since when do you date?" Natasha asked.

"I date!" Clint growled, but seeing Pepper point to the 'casual' bag he offered her a smile and then took a strategic retreat, he could save his questions for Fury once he had a shower.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Terrorists or another Red Room? We didn't know. So we found out." Nick said, standing in the private Manhattan Residence of Tony Stark.

"And?" Tony asked, pouring three drinks.

"Everything pointed to being a Self Defence Force. So we kept an eye on them." "Nick said, accepting a drink and ignoring the holos of all the files that hung behind him, as if he didn't already know them.

"What's that..." Clint asked, pointing to a picture of a lady he'd gotten to know, then just a girl in among children all dressed in pyjamas and threadbare blankets.

Nick drank a swallow of his scotch and stared out at the city, remembering it after the battle...the invasion. The scaffolding was gone, but like new shoots after a forest fire there were cranes rising from the ruined buildings that had been toppled and razed. His gambit had paid off, and if it hadn't then he'd be staring at a graveyard.

"Do you remember a day when most of the world thought our heads were going to explode, or our brains were going to bleed out of our ears? One man caused that." Nick said, having another sip to wet his lips.

"I just thought I had a really bad hangover." Tony said with a look to Clint, but for all the wisecracks his eyes didn't hold any humour.

"When I said the world was filling up with extraordinary people I wasn't lying. And where I saw a chance, well...lets just say some people were less hopeful than I was." Nick said, turning now to look at the images hanging in the air.

"Colonel William Stryker, Black Ops..." Nick started.

"Big surprise!" Tony said quickly interrupting him, before feigned apology and gave the floor back.

"He got Presidential support for an operation, one that I was against but when a man that looks like Lucifer himself takes out your secret service detail and almost assassinates the Leader of the Free World, lets just say the POTUS starts making hasty decisions. We later found out he also orchestrated that attack." Nick explained.

"Long story short, their Self Defence Force neutralized the threat. But not before soldiers under the command of Colonel Stryker raided their school, taking into their custody some students. The ones that didn't escape." Nick finished, swallowing the last of his drink.

"So why all the files?" Tony asked, a few taps and slashes on his phone having the list brought up in full.

"Because they were extraordinary people, just like I was looking for. But they didn't make it into the hat of names I had been collecting." Nick replied, looking now to Clint and Tony in all sincerity.

"Of course. Because they were born that way, they didn't come out of a bottle like all the good little indoctrinated Super Soldiers they tried to make once upon a time." Tony spat, turning back to freshen his drink.

"So we just hung back and let them take children out of their beds and throw them in some cell?" Clint asked, looking to that one photo that would haunt him.

"And if those beds had been in another Red Room?" Nick asked, that one question to silence him.

"And now?" Clint asked, his drink untouched throughout the entire conversation.

"Now? Now it's a whole new world, and that world knows we're not alone. All those little points of light up in the night sky, maybe they don't twinkle like they used to." Nick replied, and with one last look took his leave.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Did you know her interests are gymnastics, classic rock, yoga, shopping, puppies, and...Zumba? Jarvis, what's Zumba?" Tony said, sitting at his private bar with Clint beside him.

"What're you talking about?" Clint asked, snatching the tablet.

"I'm just looking up her Facebook." Tony said, looking at his phone now to see what Jarvis had dug up on Zumba.

"How did you get this?" Clint asked, even if he was looking through her photos.

"She's on my friends list, apparently. Jarvis probably accepted the request, she must have met my guidelines. An interest in Classic Rock and Yoga will do that." Tony said, now watching a video of whatever Zumba was on Youtube.

"She called you smug." Clint added, tilting the tablet one way and another so he could better appreciate one photo.

"You know, I never understood why being confident was a bad thing. That word gets thrown around way too much." Tony replied, going back to browsing the Facebook page from his own phone.

"She's supposed to be picking me up and I don't even know where to take her." Clint swore, having a look at the time.

"Back up, she's picking you up? Wait, did she ask you out?" Tony asked, playing connect the dots with all the points of interest.

"You know what, thanks for the drink but I need to go have a shower, get shaved, and get changed." Clint said, taking a page out of Fury's book and taking his leave.

"Just remember, no kissing on the first date!" Tony called to get a one fingered salute thrown over the exert marksman's shoulder.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–


	4. Chapter 4

Marvel owns X-men, Avengers, and Spider-Man.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"Parker I am going to kill you!"

"What did I do!?"

"This!"

"I've been looking all over for that!"

-That- turned out to be mask, a red one, on top of a load of white laundry...or what should have been white. Glaring at her roommate, Jubilee threw the laundry on the sofa and stalked to the fridge looking for something to drink, settling on a wine cooler and then flopping down on her once and now pink pile of whites in name only.

"Maybe if you didn't leave your laundry out in the living room." Peter added, trying on the mask for size to make sure it hadn't shrunk, it was hand wash only.

"Oh this from the guy that leaves his 'nylons' hanging over the shower rail." Jubilee was looking to said 'nylons', code for tights, along with one 'shirt' that were the rest of his costume and alter ego.

"Do you remember the last time I machine washed this?" Peter asked, stalking to the fridge for a look himself and coming back with a wine cooler...they really had to get some beer.

"Didn't you just run around with like a bag on your head and some one piece you got from a costume shop until you made a new one?"

"I will never live down that week." Pulling his mask off so he could enjoy a sip of his cooler, he tossed it with the rest of his costume in the bathroom.

"It was pretty funny." Laughing and dodging a cap thrown at her, she rolled off her laundry to start inspect it, muttering a mantra of keep, chuck as she sorted it.

"I thought you didn't do laundry mid week?" Peter asked, walking off to have a listen to his police scanner.

"Date." Tossing another with the keep, pile was winning out with just a few things landing haphazardly at the garbage.

"Who?" Switching frequencies, he looked to his roommate more interested in this news.

"Hawkeye."

"Pierce?"

"The Avenger." Jubilee clarified, throwing a bra at him.

"How?" Throwing the laundry right back, it quickly became a game of catch as they chatted.

"Got locked in a closet with him. Long story, don't ask. We went out after and did lunch, oh and by the way...they totally did do Shawarma after saving New York. Went out for few drinks, we bonded so I asked him out."

"Okay, so you're going on a date with an Avenger. Does he know about..." Peter asked, wiggling his fingers for show.

"No, that just doesn't come up in normal conversation. I mean do you just blurt out 'Oh hey, by the way, I got some freaky spider junk in my trunk' when you're pitching pick up lines?"

"It sounds worse when you say it, I mean pitching pick up lines. I work hard on those. Oh, you're not the only one with a date. I'm going out with MJ this weekend."

"You still going out with Gwen?" Having her laundry sorted and only a few goners, she walked it off to her room.

"...Spider-man is going out with Gwen."

"Is this how all guys reason dating two girls at once or is this just you?" Jubilee asked from her door.

"It's complicated."

"No, what's complicated is our living arrangement. Like Manhattan wasn't expensive enough without half of it being broke." Flopping onto her bed made easy because it took up the entirety of her room, she stared at her ceiling and the water stain that seemed to get bigger daily.

"You want to move out?" Peter asked.

"No, it's kind of cool having someone to talk to that knows what it's like. Mutates and Mutants Unite!" Laughing as she threw her first into the air.

"Don't go saying that too loud, might get us arrested." Crashing on the couch, he pressed his drink to his forehead relishing feel of the cold glass.

"Hey, you were getting some good press back there playing hero during that whole thing. You were trending." She pointed out.

"Well, JJ still has it out for Spider-man and even if they're not selling his headlines are at every news stand and on the Bugle's website."

"Print is dead. You need to harness the power of Social Media. Work that image. Just remember, the paparazzi are always looking for a wardrobe malfunction and your costume ain't too forgiving."

"You're never gonna let me live that down. I save you from aliens and what do I hear...?" Peter started to ask rhetorically...

"Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

"And you knew I didn't have pockets either!" Peter growled, leaping to his feet to glare at his roommate.

"And that wasn't no banana." Jubilee agreed with a cheeky grin.

"I still don't know how you figured out it was me." Peter laughed, flopping down on the sofa.

"I'm sorry your Batman voice didn't fool me, or that I recognized those cheesy one liners from class." Rolling to her side and twisting about on her bed, she stared at him from her room.

"Yeah, force of habit. I mean I don't even think they understood me. Kind of takes the fun out of it."

"Thanks by the way, again I mean. Jazz Hands and the smell of gas in the air...not something I was about to try.

"Hey, got a roommate out of it." Peter added with a chuckle.

"Yeah, still can't believe my renters insurance actually managed to win on a technicality that it was an act of -a- God. Nothing says wrecked apartment like an alien glider through it and the guys that come in after to get their Men in Black on."

"I'm just glad you're small enough to fit in what was advertised as a 'Walk In Closet' for this place." Peter remarked, getting to his feet again and having another look at the fridge.

"Ya know, I didn't even think of that. What is it with me and closets lately? Then again after doing the Dorm Scene at Xavier's having a door was an upgrade. Yo, toss me another?"

"I hear ya. Much as I love her, having some space from my Aunt May is pretty nice. Oh, next weekend she's doing lasagna and you're invited if you're not doing anything."

"Yum, if I'm free I'll be there. She's a doll."

"Okay, so anyway, let me pitch a few ideas at you. Somehow you got two hotties sweet on ya so you gotta have something working for ya. Give me a male opinion." Jubilee blurted out, rolling over on her bed to start picking items out.

"What are you going for?" Peter asked, leaning up against the stove to watch as she held up items against herself.

"Fun, serviceable, and just the right kind of sexy."

"Wait, what's that one? I don't get that one." Peter asked of the latest.

"You don't get a bikini top?" Jubilee asked back.

"Wait, so...it's just a Hawaiian shirt, some skater shorts and a bikini top?" Peter asked to just to be sure he was understanding the ensemble right.

"From Hawaii even, genuine article. Got a friend who is keen on them. I'm thinking this one then by the way you're picturing me in it. Thanks! Now where the heck are my Chuck Taylor's."

"I'll be in my bunk." Peter said taking his leave.

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	5. Chapter 5

Marvel owns the X-men and the Avengers.

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"I'm not stepping out until you say it."

"Very well Miss Lee. You have reached your destination."

"Was that so hard?"

Having paused to listen to the conversation Jarvis was having as the elevator doors open, Thor watched as a girl, nay maybe a young woman stepped out dressed colourfully. She had her hands clasped behind her back as she leaned forward to looked down the hall, turning once until she saw him. Her expression reminded him of his brother back when they had been boys and the love between them had been strong. It was the look of Loki in a gaming mood. He was immediately on his guard as she skipped up to him and offered her hand.

"Hi! Jubilee!"

"Thor Odinson."

"I know. Can I ask you a question?"

Considering this as he had a sip of his coffee, he had been out drinking and one lesson he had been taught was that this beverage he already greatly enjoyed was also an elixir that helped prevent or ease a hangover. Only recently had he also found out the Starbucks sold a size fit for an Asgardian, they called it a Trenta and he was on his second.

"You may."

"Can I try and pick up your hammer?" Jubilee asked with an impish smile.

"Mjolnir? But it is impossible, only he who is worthy of the power of Thor is able to pick it up. Not even the Green Brute is capable of such a feat."

"I'm hearing what you're saying, but there is one thing you gotta understand about us humans. If you tell us something is impossible, it just makes us wanna do it more. We didn't get to the moon by listening to all the people telling us it was impossible."

"Well, that is an admirable trait. You may." Thor said, to then hold out the hand that was not busied with his Trenta.

"Okay, so uh...where is it?"

"It comes." Thor said as the first curse sounded down the hall.

In a flurry of screams, yelps, oaths and swears -It- rounded a corner just as someone dove for cover. Alighting in his hand, with a twist he let -It- fall beside them and looked to this young lady approach -It- eagerly. The outcome was expected as she took hold of the hilt and pulled, but that only seemed to encourage her. Leaning against a wall with crossed arms, he watched her efforts and found himself laughing as they turned playful.

"Wow, this is awesome! I bet I can do a hand stand off it!"

"Jarvis, please tell me you're getting this."

Looking to see Tony and Clint rounding a corner, they looked to be just as impressed as he himself was as the games being played. She had herself balanced on it, bending herself backwards until her feet hovered over her head in a pose that he would have thought impossible had he not just witnessed it. Tilting his head to appreciate it from another angle, as he looked again to Tony and Clint to see they too had joined him.

"Send a video of this to Pepper and title it _I want one_." Tony called out as the show came to an end with Jubilee flipping off of -It-, landing to applauds from those who had stopped to watch.

"Thanks dude, that was awesome!" Jubilee chirped cheerily as she bounced up to Thor for a High Five.

"This is Jubilee, and she is wise beyond her years." Thor said after returning the gesture he had learned one night of drinking.

"We've met." Clint said, smiling to his date.

"Well, I haven't. Hi, Tony Stark, we haven't been properly introduced but you're on my Friend's List." Tony said as he elbowed in to take her hand.

"Okay, Tony Stark actually knows I'm on his Friend's List, that's cool."

"I'm glad I went casual." Clint said as he took in her appearance, her Hawaiian shirt buttoned just enough to tease her bikini top.

"Why, were ya thinking of maybe rocking your Double O? You could have been the Gere to my Roberts, we could have gone down to Saks Fifth and had some fun." Jubilee laughed, walking up to Clint to smile up at him.

"I could still go change..." Clint said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder as he stood with her.

"Nah, I'm liking what I'm seeing."

"Just something I had a friend pick out."

"Okay Point Break, lets leave these two alone. Hey, don't just leave -It- there, I'm tired of the cleaning staff having to work around -It-..."

Peeking past her date, Jubilee watched as Thor reached out and just like a puppy -It- flew to him. Giggling and laughing at the sight, she looked back up to Clint and lost herself to a few moments of enjoying his mysterious smile and intense eyes that looked right into her.

"What're you thinking about?" With a tip toe step she walked up to him, hooking her thumbs through his belt loops and leaning back precariously.

"Just where to take you for a date now that Pretty Woman's not an option." Taking her hands in his, he let her play her game just to see how she would trust him as she dangled from his grasp.

"Somewhere fun. We did lunch, drinks, and there's no way we'd meet the dress code for any fancy kinda dinner. Take me somewhere you go when you just wanna have fun, where you're just Clint Barton."

"Okay."

With a playful pull he yanked her up as she screamed and giggled, catching her and holding her. She was light in his arms, easily lifting her and walking off to the elevator.

"Somewhere fun, I think I know just the place." Clint mused, holding her all the way down the lobby and only then reluctantly letting go.

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"So this is Clint Barton having fun. I approve."

Looking to her from the batting cage, without taking his eyes off her he hit another and another, each a guaranteed home run. Sitting on a bench eating a ballpark dog with a beer, the place had all the ambiance of the stadium.

"Okay, okay, you proved your Major League, you can stop staring at me! I keep expecting some curve ball to bean ya!" Jubilee laughed, hiding her eyes as he hit another.

"Made MVP one year." Sending another sailing, the clock ticked down with second left on his time.

"Wait, you mean you really were Major League?"

"High School." He corrected, his time up.

Joining her on the bench, his pizza was waiting right along with a beer, stadium fare at its finest. Eating his slice folded in half, she was done her dog and sat there with her legs crossed holding her beer in her lap.

"So MVP and making eyes at me, this is like all you. You know, ten thousand hours, felt like ten thousand hands. Ten thousand hands, they carry me..."

"What?" Clint asked, laughing at her as she sang.

"It's all skill, all unadulterated you. No gimmicks, no Redbull. You're not a god, you're not a super soldier, and you don't got a suit that lets you fly right? You're just Clint Barton, if cut you bleed."

"You make it sound like I'm some hero, I'm just a soldier." He was looking into his beer as he said it, but beside him she rocked once and leaned up against him resting her head against his shoulder.

"Yeah well, way I remember it, it was you guys out there playing hero that helped a lot of other people follow your lead. When everyone else was running, you guys stood your ground. That got a whole mess of heroes backing you up. The everyday kind that keep the world going round."

"You really see it that way?"

Now she was smiling up to him, setting her beer aside so she could grab the back of the bench and climb onto his lap. Staring up into those eyes that looked right through her, she opened herself to him.

"I was one of the ones running, but someone stepped up to the plate and saved me. You guys got the home team outta the slump to win, bottom of the ninth and all that jazz. And I'm officially outta baseball metaphors so you better believe me, otherwise ya gotta listen to me sing some more."

"So, who's your MVP?" Clint asked, wrapping her up in his arms as she sat with him.

"Well, it was gonna be Spider-man, but then you told me Tony freaking Stark flew a nuke through the hole in the sky. Sorry babe, gotta say him, I don't think they make any SPF Nine Million that's gonna block something like that."

"Spider-man?" Clint laughed and saw how she took an air of offense.

"Hey, he went to bat for me. And he's hung. Truth. That costume hides nothing. Lucky for you, I like my everyday kinda heroes. Ten Thousand."

And sitting there staring into her eyes as he listened to her, he could only think of what she had been through as that file told. It hadn't left her bitter, jaded, or with a hard heart. Something Fury said came back to him as he smiled down to her.

"The world's filling up with extraordinary people." She looked at him confused, taking advantage of her in that unguarded moment to leaned for a kiss. Her lips so used to smiling were soft against his. There was nothing fake in her laugh, and seeing her with Thor he thought she must live her life to the fullest taking advantage of every chance she had. She didn't hold anything back, so neither did he as the kiss deepened.

"What was that?" She asked with lidded and fluttering eyes, and he thought she meant the kiss.

But that time he heard it, the sound of a fake shutter of a camera playing from a phone. Looking down to his own he saw himself captured with her on his lap.

"Dammit Tony!" Clint swore even as he laughed.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. Be glad you didn't have it in your pocket, look at these." Tony apologized over the speaker phone.

"Oh my god, he hacked your phone. That sounds like something my friends would do!" Jubilee squealed full of giggles, kissing Clint again and playing for her audience.

"Okay, if you have friends that can do this, you need to introduce me to them. I'm always looking for fresh talent." Tony said, the shutter snapping another picture.

"Thought you said that was classified?" She asked, her breath hot against his ear.

"What's classified?" Tony asked as his face appeared on the screen.

"I asked him where to get an application to work for you." Her grin was saucy as she looked at the one that had denied her.

"And he said it was Classified? Why would he say that? Why would you say that Clint? Clint? Miss Lee? Jubilee? Okay, you're busy. I'll Facebook you."

"Goodbye Tony."

Her smile was infectious, trying with every kiss to catch it. It was easy with her laughter dancing in the air. She was warm against him and felt good in his arms. She had called him a hero, and for the first time in his life he felt like one. He wasn't the soldier following orders, he wasn't the man out for revenge trying to get his ledger back into the black. He was an Avenger, and it took an extraordinary person to prove it to him.

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	6. Chapter 6

Marvel owns the Avengers and the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-

"So I guess we're at that point were we got some questions to ask ourselves."

Talk of a taking a cab had been vetoed in favour of the bus, and sitting in the back just watching life pass them by he got a few looks and saw some take some pictures of him. But for the most part they were just ignored, the odd whisper heard asking why would Hawkeye of the Avengers be riding a bus? But that had been her choice and he'd been happy enough to ride with her.

"And just what are these questions?" Clint asked, holding her as she sat on his lap with her feet taking up her own seat.

"Oh, I dunno, ones like your place or mine? How do you like your eggs? But I think Eastwood said it best. You got to ask yourself one question, do I feel lucky? Well, do ya Clint?" Jubilee asked as she smiled up to him, paraphrasing Dirty Harry.

"And if I'm feeling pretty lucky?" Clint asked, slipping a hand into one of the pockets on her skater shorts, gently running his thumb against her leg.

"Ah, well, then we're right back to your place or mine. I'll field that one, yours. Next question?" Smiling up at him from her seat on his lap, she snapped a selfie of them together.

"Eggs?" Reaching to take her phone, as he waited for her reply he forwarded the photo to his own and then saved his number under her contacts.

"Scrambled with ketchup, Heinz 57 baby and nothing else. I'm picky."

"Simple and easy, my kind of cooking." Adding her to his own contacts and changing his background from the default, he showed it off and earned her approval if the kiss was any indication.

"Next question, your place got a good view?" Jubilee asked as she nestled down against him.

"I like to think so." Clint said, looking off out the window to where he could see Stark Tower, a sign their trip was nearing its end.

"Great, now we just gotta figure out what's gonna happen between now and when I'm admiring it tomorrow in one of your T-shirts."

"Hmm, that's a view I could get behind. What will I be wearing?" Clint asked, holding her as the bus lurched to a stop for patrons and passengers to find their way.

"Always had a thing for guys in jeans and nothing else. Just leaves enough to the imagination, but still look crazy kinds of sexy as you pad up barefoot to hold me while I'm caffeinating." Jubilee purred.

"So, now that we got all that settled, any ideas how I'm gonna get you into one of my T-shirts?"

"Why don't we just play that part by ear?"

Her smile was full of all the possibilities and completely carefree. Listening to the stops get called, as theirs came he helped her to her feet and lead her off. Walking through the crowds holding hands, he noticed just how small hers felt against his. Looking at her as if for the first time, he saw just how petite and tiny she really was. All he could remember was how she filled a room with her laughter, poking fun and making jokes with a saucy smirk or cheeky grin.

He never understood the saying until that moment, but as he looked to her it came to mind. She was larger than life, and he felt he could use a bit of that in his own.

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There was coffee brewing and small quiet steps running around his apartment. A clock told the hour as just a bit past six, the view from his windows slowly brightening while his living room hid in the shadows. The tune they played last night had been a fun one, but as another question came it turned innocent. Standing at his bedroom door, one last kiss was had in passing just before it slowly shut in his face.

Laying on the sofa just as she liked, clad only in jeans, he watched her walk off to a window to caffeinate and admire the view in one of his shirts. He still owed her eggs, and a rummage of the fridge last night found a few along with a small glass bottle of ketchup just the right vintage for her tastes, all hidden in amongst take out containers and bottles of beer.

For now though he just enjoyed the way the light revealed her, his thoughts turning less innocent as he imagined her legs wrapped about his waist, holding her with her against the glass, their kisses not so sweet or kind but instead full of the passion she evoked in him. That was a fantasy for another day, for another time and only if his luck held out, right now there was one still scripted he was all too obliged to grant.

"Morning."

Taking her into his arms and holding her against his bare chest, he kissed her head and breathed in the aroma of coffee and everything that was her. The reflection that met him in the glass smiled back, and from it he saw all she wore was just his shirt that was too revealing in the dawn.

"Just like I imagined it." She whispered, enjoying a sip of her coffee and closing her eyes in bliss.

"Better than I imagined."

With the better part of an outfit between them they stood there enjoying the view and the company, sharing a cup of coffee between them that he found too sweet but still managed to enjoy. This was what he had fought for and he hadn't even realized it, caught up in events bigger than him with the odds stacked but still coming out on top. This was what the fight was about, just making sure there was a tomorrow to wake up to where a person could enjoy a cup of coffee and see the sun rise.

"You said you wanted to talk?"

Or get interrupted by friends, as the case may be. Natasha stood at his door with the light from the hall spilling in. He stood with Jubilee in his arms, both half dressed just tops and bottoms at the flip of a coin.

"This is London all over again..." Natasha said as she took in the scene, her hand still on the door and moving to leave.

"Whoa, stop, stop! Uh, about face!" Jubilee blurted immediately.

"Tasha, Jubilee. Jubilee, Tasha." Clint introduced.

"You sure there's no pining? Because I could understand pining now. She's girl crush material." Jubilee asked with a look up to Clint.

"There's no pining." Clint swore, and his thoughts turned a little less innocent as he played with her last remark.

"Girl crush?" Natasha asked, looking a little confused herself.

"You know what, I'm guessing he said he wanted to talk, and you look like you're ready to talk. So why don't I go check out just what kinda shower this place has and leave you two to talk. Oh, fresh brew on the counter. Ciao." Jubilee said as she took on the role of mediator, standing on her tip toes to give Clint a kiss on the cheek.

"Explain to me how this isn't London?" Natasha asked from the door, still deciding whether to stay or go.

"Because I slept on the couch." Clint answered, the sound of a shower heard as he found two mugs from his cabinet.

"Then...this really was a date?" Natasha asked, again looking confused at the scene.

"I date." Clint said, offering her a cup of coffee just as she liked it.

The door was shut and the choice made, the two leaning against the kitchen counter and enjoying their first cup of the day. Singing joined the quiet of the moment, a serenade from the bathroom with a playlist of recent chart toppers.

"You said you wanted to talk?" Natasha was quiet, relaxed, sipping her coffee without looking at all on guard.

"Just got a question, did you know about the school, the one that visited yesterday?" Clint asked, staring out at the view of skyscrapers and business towers rising again one floor at a time, slow healing wounds that New York still bore.

"Yes."

"And?"

There was a pause as Natasha now looked at him, and he had to bear her gaze because he had to trust her. They had been through too much, they had always been there for each other.

"Tony would be jealous of their jet." And even if she didn't smile, he saw it in her eyes, a rare attempt at humour from the worlds foremost femme fatale.

The laughter felt good, it was the last nail he needed to lay to rest his fears and doubts. It was cognitive recalibration all over again, just something she said completely deadpan but trying to make him feel better.

"Thanks Tasha." Clint said, clinking his mug against hers.

"You're welcome. Now I have a question, explain Girl Crush?"

"Ask Tony, I got some eggs to make."

"Now I have two more, why would I ask Tony anything and since when do you cook?"

Rolling his eyes and making for the fridge, he pulled out the eggs and ketchup and put them on the counter. Digging out a pan, he was ready to answer at least one of them.

"Scrambled eggs, just slightly harder than boiling water but I think I can pull it off. As for Tony, I owe him for spying on my date, so just ask him."

"He spied on your date?" Now she sounded interested, watching him as he got to proving he could cook.

"He took pictures." There was another silence as she watched him stir the eggs in the pan.

"Maybe I will go ask Tony."

"Goodbye Tasha."

Left alone at last, there was just one part of this fantasy left. Plating the eggs and making a place for her at the island, the sound of the shower was the last cue he had. Leaning against the counter with his coffee in hand, he watched the door open and in that moment everything was left unscripted.

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	7. Chapter 7

Marvel owns the Avengers and the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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Breakfasting with Pepper in the company of Steve and Thor, Tony busied himself as another was ready to join them or so Jarvis had informed him. Having made waffles for him and the lady who had stolen his heart, a heart worth a considerable fortune he had to admit, one of these days he swore he'd finally remember that seemingly small but so vital detail about strawberries.

"Waffles?" Tony asked, offering one deadly plate to his guests.

Leaving the plate to Steve, he hurried back to make another batch sans deadly fruit topping for Pepper. Leaning up against his bar turned kitchen, the griddle was filled and shut and he was enjoying his morning cup when the doors opened. In walked Natasha like a woman driven, so it was just another day at the office as he was concerned, all up until she spotted him as he was still savouring his brew.

"Explain girl crush."

Wishing he had done a spit take instead, he was reduced to a coughing fit along with finding he hadn't yet learned how to breath coffee as Thor seemed intent on attempting. Pepper sat frozen, Steve lost his fork to the floor after a few important neural impulses regarding fine motor control misfired, and Thor...just kept drinking his coffee as he read an email from Jane.

"What?" Tony asked between his barking coughs.

"Clint declined to answer and said I should ask you, apparently he owed you for spying on his date." Natasha remarked as she calmly poured herself a cup of coffee.

"You spied on his date?" Pepper hissed from the breakfast table.

"You didn't seem to mind pictures I showed you."

"I thought they took them!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw one perfectly manicured eyebrow rise at all this talk of pictures, instantly guessing Clint must have told Natasha about that too. Smelling waffles and figuring this was a conversation best hand on full stomachs, he let the questions stand and made a plate for Pepper which was now a peace offering.

"Explain the need for an explanation of girl crush?" Tony countered, turning the question back on Natasha if only to buy himself some time.

"Clint's date said I was, and I quote, girl crush material."

Straightening his back and coughing into his hand, Tony walked back to the bar to fix another cup of coffee as an excuse to avoid Pepper from seeing him toy with that idea. Already he was regretting having Jarvis send the one video to Pepper even if she admitted she thought it was cute. He was also suddenly regretting having it posted to his Facebook page even if it was good press for Thor.

"Feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag..." Steve started to recite with his eyes to his phone, "Sorry, now I have to look up shag."

"Where are you getting that?"

Staring at Steve, Tony saw the All American Boy start to blush as he apparently found out just what shag meant when not in reference to the flooring industry. Thor looked on over taking sudden interest in the conversation, Pepper looked to be enjoying her waffles and every minute of her lovers torture, and Natasha...looked to be trying to decided just how she felt about _Girl Crush_.

"Urban Dictionary, it's a great if somewhat crude resource that helps me understand many of today's colloquialisms." Steve replied, looking to scroll through some more examples.

"Just tell me you have Safe Search on." Tony groaned, rubbing his eyes at the mess breakfast was becoming.

"Let me see the pictures."

Finding his phone and sending the lot over to Natasha's own, he was seated back at the breakfast table and enjoying his waffles when mid bite a few facts he had been too blind sided to see finally waved him down.

"Wait, when did his date say that?" Tony asked, having known just how late both Natasha and Pepper had arrived home, for lack of a better word, last night.

"I would put it at about ten minutes ago, Clint and I had a chat and coffee while she was in the shower. Then I came here."

Wondering if the choking he was experiencing was anything like what it would be for Pepper to actually eat a strawberry, the slap Thor gave him was probably worse but it helped clear his throat. It also left him struggling for breath after being completely winded.

"She stayed over? At his place? Here? Jarvis why didn't you tell me this?"

"It was not part of the parameters you had set for the privacy mode you requested, sir."

Privacy mode, his quiet time with Pepper, he'd given her a foot massage after her meeting and that lead to a few other things that had him want to thank her with waffles in the morning. At least after his false start she seemed to be enjoying them right along with the conversation.

"Well, I think we should invite them up for breakfast, don't you think so Pepper?" Tony asked of the lady with the keys to his kingdom.

"And if you were interrupted as we were having breakfast?" Pepper questioned, making a show of licking a bit of syrup from her lip.

"Good point. Excuse me, would you all mind leaving Pepper and I alone?"

Just maybe he'd be given a reason to make lunch for her too.

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	8. Chapter 8

Marvel owns the Avengers and the X-men.  
  
-=+=–=+=–=+=–=+=-      
  
“Hey, hey, hey.  Where you guys going?”  
  
    Nearly to the door, Clint turned to see Tony jogging to catch up.  He wasn’t alone and in fact he had Steve, Thor and Bruce with him.  He looked down to Jubilee and she smiled up at him in that way that made his world just a bit better place.  She’d shared her eggs with him and they sat watching tv and drinking coffee wasting away the morning.  
  
“Starbucks.”  Jubilee said with a glance to her phone.  
  
“What’s wrong with the one here?”  Tony asked.  
  
“I don’t work there.”  That had the assembled Avengers looking at her in a new light, especially Thor.  To him baristas were the Priests and Priestesses of his new temple.  
  
“She’s going to be late for her shift.”  Clint said trying to end this having offered to drive her.  One perk of not working for Tony was that he always had a car handy, and as much as she had protested, he managed to talk her into letting him drive her to work.  
  
“Didn’t you say you wanted to work for me?”  Tony asked, and Clint glared at him.  
  
“Maybe.  But it’d have to be an immediate opening, I got bills to pay, rent to cover.  Living in Manhattan ain’t cheap nowadays ya know.”  
  
“I have the perfect immediate opening, in fact you can start today.  You already have the most important skill and everything else can be handled with on the job training.”  Tony boasted as he looked between his fellow Avengers with a eager grin.  
  
“You’re serious?”  Jubilee warily asked.  
  
“Perfectly serious.  All you have to do is say yes.”  
  
“I also have part time classes at college.”  
  
“I can offer flexible hours to work around that.”  
  
    Clint watched as she made up her mind, looking off at the Starbucks in the lobby where her fellow baristas were slinging coffee.  There was a giggle and laugh as she noticed Thor standing in line with -It- at his side.  Even he couldn’t help but smile at her laugh, but it was her eyes looking to him for approval that twisted his stomach in knots.  
  
“Tony's a good guy, you should take it.  Just don’t make me regret saying that.”  Clint relented, turning to the billionaire who couldn’t be happier.  
  
“Yes, holy heck yes I’ll work for you!”  
  
“Great, phone up your previous employer and quit.  You have a suit, suits?  Business skirt?  No, don’t worry, I’ll get Pepper down here so she can meet her new personal assistant over some shopping.  On me.  Oh and please remember this, no strawberries.  Period.  She’s deathly allergic and I somehow always forget that.  See, on the job training right off the bat.”  
  
    And just the classic Tony he knew and would secretly say he liked, he was a man that did nothing by half measures.  Jubilee was frozen through in making her call.  Lifting her off her feet with a hug, Clint walked her off to the Starbucks that while it might not been hers, was no longer her place of employ.  
  
“I, uh, what?”  Jubilee managed.  
  
“Don’t worry about it, Pepper's a sweetheart.  We’ll get you caffeinated and you can meet your new boss.”  
  
    Her smile was back and he felt one tugging at his lips, but the kiss that followed was a pleasant surprise.  One nice benefit was that she’d be around, albeit busy at the top tier of Tony’s own empire.  
  
“Uh, hi.  I’m really sorry but I have to quit, I was just hired by Tony Freaking Stark.  I can’t, I start today and I mean like right now!  I know I’m supposed to give my two weeks.  Sorry.  Yeah I can do that, how did you know he liked Starbucks?  Okay I’ll ask him but I can’t promise anything, you too, thanks!”  
  
“Ask who what?”  Clint inquired shuffling forward in the line.  
  
“Thor, to visit my old Starbucks.  Apparently he’s a big java junkie.”  
  
    As far as understatements went it was a large one, but Clint let it slide.  Ordering for them and wandering down waiting for their drinks, he finally let her go.  Wondering just what she was up to now, he peeked to see her texting.  
  
“Just telling my roomie I got a new job.  Peter's gonna flip.”  Jubilee laughed as she showed her phone.  
  
“Peter?”  Clint asked suddenly curious.  
  
“Is that a hint of jealousy I detect hmm?  Peter Parker, met him in college.  He totally saved me one time, and both our places got trashed in the invasion so we decided to move in together.  Hey, funny tidbit given how you and me met, but my room is a walk in closet.”  Jubilee rambled sending off her text.  
  
“So that’s your rent to cover?”  
  
“Yep, otherwise he would have had to move back in with his Aunt May.  She is just a doll, oh hey!  You, me, lasagna at her place this weekend.  You can be my plus one as long as you’re not busy saving the world.  Think it’s Saturday but I’ll find out.”  
  
“Already planning out our second date?”  Laughing at her infectious smile, he left her to her texting and gathered up their coffees.  He remembered just how she took hers and had it ready by the time she was done.  Noticing the harried lady love of Mister Stark himself exiting the elevator, he gathered up his own new amour and lead her off for the introduction.  
  
“Jubilee, meet Pepper.  Pepper, meet your new personal assistant who I might add I’ve already informed her about strawberries.”  Tony said in introduction.  
  
“You’re not a spy are you?”  Pepper asked right off the bat.  
  
“No, uh, I’m guessing that’s kind of normal around here though right?”  
  
“I’ll fill you in on her resume, she’s on my Facebook.  We’re friends.”  Tony offered, and Clint caught that meaningful look between them.  Jubilee might not be a spy but she had her own past, one he technically shouldn’t know about and was more than happy to leave her to reveal once she was ready.  
  
“Are you now Tony?  Well then you can have fun running your company while I outfit our newest employee on your dime.  Come along Miss..?”  
  
“Lee, Jubilation Lee.  He’s paying us to go shopping?”  
  
“Yes, and I think I’ll have a bit of fun with that.”  Pepper said with a grin to her lover.  
  
“Go, play, have fun.  You’re the face of Stark Industries Pepper, I can’t have your PA looking any less sophisticated as you.”  
  
“Is it to early to tweet #bestjobever?”  The question was met with a few laughs as she was lead off to a waiting car. Standing with Tony watching their ladies leave, only after the doors had closed and the car was gone did he turn to the man.  
  
“You’re going to tell Pepper about her SHIELD file aren’t you?”  
  
“I’m going to tell Pepper about her SHIELD file.  I can’t lie to her, at least not very good.  Besides it’s all Natasha’s fault anyway.”  
  
“Did she ask you about Girl Crush?”  He asked smirking.  
  
“She did.  I nearly choked on my coffee thank you very much.  And!  Pepper was very cross with me when she found out just where I got those photos.”  
  
    Smirking all the more and heading off to the elevator, he had a date with the gym and then maybe his closet.  Him and Tony were even now, and not that he’d admit it but just maybe he felt like he owed Tony a bit.  Jubilee made him feel like a hero, and just maybe having someone like that around would help them when the dark days came.  The world was a dangerous place without looking up at those twinkling points of light thinking of all the enemies that just might be out there.  
  
    But he was an Avenger and they were the team with the home field advantage.  
  
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	9. Chapter 9

Marvel owns X-men, Avengers, and Spider-Man, no profit is to be made from this work.  
  
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“Do you even know what an iron is?”  
  
“Always did my best work with a Seven.”  
  
“You golf?  Wait, don’t answer that, it’s just a bullseye on the ground so of course you golf.”  
  
    Smirking that Jubilee caught that in one, Clint threw another pair of slacks onto the growing pile that had taken over his bed.  If there was one thing he was getting to know about Pepper, it was that she took passive aggressive to a whole new level, hence, he was having to find some closet space for his...new friend.  Apparently all her closet space was taken up back at her apartment, so he had been persuaded to loan her some of his own, which likely meant he'd be seeing her just in time for scrambled eggs and early morning musings as they both caffeinated.    
  
“You iron?”  Clint countered, it was a grey place to go but he just had to ask.  
  
“I iron, I stitch, I mend, I’ve even been known to dye from time to time.  Strangely enough me and my roomie got that in common.  And that’s the look of someone with some jeans needing hemmed, we will discuss this later.”  Jubilee said in a huff, as if she didn’t need anything else piled up on her plate so early in the week.  
  
“Over dinner?”  
  
    It was a question Clint had been meaning to ask ever since he had seen the latest employee of Stark Industries pass by in a business jacket, skirt, and heels.  There were women who walked, and then there were women who sashayed, and damn if Miss Lee didn’t know how to sashay in a skirt and heels.  
  
“Lasagna.  You, me, Auntie May and my roomie.  Actually, do you know if the Cap is doing anything Saturday?”  Sexy to curious in the span of three seconds, Clint was still enjoying the way Jubilee had rolled ‘Lasagna’ over her tongue to follow her question in real time.  
  
“Steve?”  
  
    As far as interrogations were going this was one of his more enjoyable, the questions kept coming and he didn’t have to work so hard at keeping things under wraps that he should keep locked down.  But calling the Cap by his given name apparently was a faux pas if how Jubilee’s nose wrinkled at his query.  
  
“Okay maybe to you he’s Steve, but to the rest of us he’s the Cap!  Because trust me there is only one Mister Rogers and...I’ve  always found way creepy to childhood trauma levels.”  
  
“That wasn’t an image I needed.”  Clint protested, because imagining the Cap sporting Mister Rogers sweater wasn’t anything anyone needed to imagine.  
  
“Mmm, well, lets get back to you then shan’t we Mister Hawkeye sir?  You mentioned munitions and workplace romances, all those shafts, tips, and everything else that might...quiver?”  
  
“You’re having too much fun with this.”  
  
    Pointing a finger squarely at the lady who was so enjoying herself tormenting him, at the end of the day he still blamed Tony for the whole mess.  He couldn’t blame Pepper, no one could blame Pepper, and if how Jubilee and Happy were getting along then there was a new friendship born out of the kind of names parents gave their kids conceived from good intentions and weird food cravings.  
  
“Hey, this is my time!  I’m the PA for one of the hottest redheads in the world, who just happens to be the lady love of like the only guy that could totally have bullied Steve Jobs and Bill Gates combined back in highschool.  And just so you know, under my fringe benefits I’m listing going out with a guy who just might be the hottest Avenger there is.”  
  
“It’s Thor.  You’re talking about Thor, aren’t you?”  Clint kept his poker face rock solid, he didn’t so much as twitch, smirk or let his eyes twinkle as she glared at him.  
  
“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response, and furthermore the price of getting any jeans hemmed just went up to including dessert!”  
  
“It’s a deal just so long as I get to choose the place.”  
  
    Offering his hand, there was a moment when Jubilee looked at him wondering just what his angle was, but if there was one thing he’d noticed about her...it was that she had a sweet tooth.  Shaking on it, he had a dinner date for Lasagna and dessert of his choosing.  That just left finding out if the Cap had anything going on come Saturday, because something about the twinkle in those eyes he found so easy to get lost in told him that just maybe the Cap would be the real guest of honour.  
  
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End file.
